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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236984">Mortality</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallowed_nebulae/pseuds/hallowed_nebulae'>hallowed_nebulae</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the suffering won't fade (just because time's past) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Tamers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddles, Gen, I do!, Mentions of Fights, but it's cyberdramon so, discussions of mortality, dont let cyberdramon fool you, he's secretly super soft on the inside, hey look there's more!, hey remember how ryou is the first human in tamer's digiworld?, humans must be so weird to digimon, i love writing these two's dynamic, instead of turning into data, like when we die our bodies get left behind, near the end kinda, or thoughts about it at least</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:07:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>893</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236984</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallowed_nebulae/pseuds/hallowed_nebulae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryou is the first human in the Digital World. Cyberdramon ponders on what this means, and wonders about death and how humans die.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akiyama Ryou | Ryo Akiyama &amp; Cyberdramon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the suffering won't fade (just because time's past) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932964</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mortality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>originally i wasnt sure if or when i was gonna write more of this series, but then i got a couple comments expressing that they were glad to have found content that treated cyberdramon as an actual character, which made me want to actually write something again. it's a shame that cyberdramon doesn't really get treated as his own character as much as guilmon or renamon are, so that's part of why this fic is from his point of view</p>
<p>also, like, think about it. to digimon humans must be REALLY weird. especially since ryou is the first one in the digital world. there must have been so much trial and error in figuring out how digital world rules applies to him??</p>
<p>also i listened to "uraomote lovers" feat. hatsune miku by wowaka for a good chunk of writing this so do with that information what you will. the song is a bop</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For all that he knew, Cyberdramon was aware of twice as much that he did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> know.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Humans, how they lived and died, was not one of those things that Cyberdramon knew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryou was - an odd thing to find, in the Digital World. There had never been another human in the space before then - Ryou was the first. And oh, how odd, how alien he was to the digimon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Humans bled. Humans did not disappear into data when they died - this, Ryou told Cyberdramon himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When we get hurt, we bleed. And if you bleed too much, or you get hurt too badly, you die.” The boy said, casually, one day during a rare moment of rest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cyberdramon was silent, but tilted his head slightly to the side, enough so that Ryou would be able to tell that the dragon was listening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Digimon turn into data here.” Ryou continued, running a hand through his hair, his right left in his lap. “It’s so. . . </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I keep thinking that when they die they’re supposed to leave their bodies, but. . . they just - don’t.” He frowned, the left hand dropping into his lap along with the right. “Or maybe I’m the one who’s weird. If digimon normally turn into data, does that make me weird for not doing that if I die?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cyberdramon shifted, shuffling so that his shadow fell over Ryou, so that his wings brushed the boy in what could be excused as an accident. “You’re a human. Humans are weird.” And that addition of Cyberdramon’s was the end of that conversation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The knowledge didn’t leave Cyberdramon’s mind, though. Even when he fought, even when they were moving or resting or even when Cyberdramon was asleep, that fact did not seem to be able to leave. Humans dropped their bodies when they died. A dead human left a body behind, and how did you know if a human was dead or not if their bodies would be unmoving in both unconsciousness and death? How was one supposed to tell the difference?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cyberdramon decided that he would just have to make sure Ryou didn’t ever go still, then. Outside of sleep, perhaps, but - didn’t humans die in their sleep as well? If Ryou died asleep, then - what would Cyberdramon do? The dragon would have no way of knowing if Ryou was dead or not, humans didn’t turn into data. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rubber-armored dragon ended up getting less sleep than he normally would, now. He had to watch as Ryou slept, just to be safe. Just to be sure that the boy didn’t die, just to be sure that Ryou would wake up in the morning, because Ryou was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> and there were so very few things that belonged to Cyberdramon. Certainly not the whispers in the dragon’s head. Those were louder than he wanted to admit, making his anxieties over Ryou worse than anything else, always whispering and crying and very vocally being against Ryou’s death. If Cyberdramon fussed over Ryou, it was partly to appease those whispers alongside of calming his own fears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Battles suffered with a lack of sleep. This was an expected but ultimately necessary consequence. Cyberdramon had been nearly too good at battles and fights before. Now Ryou needed to put more attention into helping Cyberdramon be more aware - but it was an </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ryou that helped Cyberdramon in the fights, and an alive Ryou was better than a dead one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Settling down near the fire in one of the desert areas, Cyberdramon sighed, and let himself curl around Ryou this rare time. The boy was drowsy enough that he would mistake the act of care as a dream, hopefully. Easier for Ryou to see Cyberdramon as a tool - tools could be fixed if they broke, and digimon could be patched up with spare data found or cards swiped. It was easier to deal with a fight if you did not have to be concerned about the one doing the fighting getting injured - so easier to have Ryou believe that Cyberdramon was emotionless and capable of nothing other than fighting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cyberdramon would be fine. So long as Ryou was alive to lean into his chest on cold nights like these, Cyberdramon would be content. Ryou filled some void in Cyberdramon that had been left gaping and empty for far too long, left his younger self screaming and wailing at that yawning emptiness that would not go away whatever he did - and Cyberdramon refused to let that void open up again. Ryou was worth far more than anything else, and Cyberdramon did not care what he had to sacrifice to keep Ryou safe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another smaller sigh, and Cyberdramon curled around the boy further, pulling him tightly against Cyberdramon’s chest. Limbs wrapped around the child and head tucked over Ryou’s shoulers, Cyberdramon looked into the fire and let himself relax just a bit. Ryou was breathing - and breathing meant he was alive. Good. Ryou was still alive. Cyberdramon would just have to do his best to keep Ryou alive. Nothing was worth more than Ryou, and so Cyberdramon would do whatever it would take. A final yawn, and Cyberdramon let himself get comfortable. Whether he would watch for the entire night or whether he would fall asleep before then wasn’t quite known, but - Ryou would be alive come morning. Cyberdramon was sure of it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if i don't write cyberdramon being Soft behind that scary looking outside then it's not me, get a gun and get rid of the impostor (preferably by offering to play a round of bullet tag via nerf guns so that they'll not want to be enemies any more)</p>
<p>also yknow how milleniummon and monodramon are kinda implied to be permanantly fused since they joggressed and became an egg? it may not be what canon tried to say but it's what i'm gonna go with, so cyberdramon is stuck with the two of them vaguely being whispers in his head. let cyberdramon be a person please<br/>anyways so cyberdramon definitely would still have that adventure-verse partner-digimon-instinct of "this person is critical to my health and if i don't have them it feels like i'm physically missing a piece of myself" (aka hello gaping void). i dont know if it's how the partner bond canonically works but it's how i like to treat it so whee</p>
<p>can you tell i'm posting this at 3:45 am</p></blockquote></div></div>
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